Science and Technology

Autumn Budget 2017 – We Need to Talk about Blue Skies Science

By Anna Scaife Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Budget 2017, Science and Technology Posted: November 20, 2017

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget Anna Scaife, Co-Director at Policy@Manchester and Professor of Radio Astronomy in the School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Manchester, highlights the need for government to increase funding for fundamental scientific research in the UK. The UK lags behind most of the world in terms of its research […]

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things

By Steve Furber Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Science and Technology Posted: November 15, 2017

Computers are everywhere with a myriad of consumer, automotive, medical and communications devices hosting microprocessors and the Internet of Things will result in an increase in reliance on this technology. In this blog, Steve Furber, Professor of Computer Engineering, discusses the challenges for Dr Patrick Vallance, the new Government Chief Scientific Advisor on artificial intelligence, […]

Countries, community and currencies

By David G.W Birch Filed Under: All posts, Science and Technology, Urban Posted: May 17, 2017

David Birch talks about the ideas behind his new book, ‘Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin’, covering and questioning a multitude of concepts from trust to identity to nation states to currencies. Trade cannot exist without trust, and it is hard to trust strangers As society scales beyond the ability and trust of individuals, we have to […]

The rise of the robots – now’s the time to talk

By Diane Coyle Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: May 8, 2017

The pace of change in technology shows no sign of slowing down, and as artificial intelligence develops, ever-more tasks that were previously carried out by humans could be done by machines. We have seen technological change before, and history tells us that there will be winners and losers. We must prepare economic and employment policies […]

The UK Technifesto

By Vikas Shah Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Growth and Inclusion, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: May 3, 2017

Inequality in our world is a root cause of many problems, but the strength of technology means it is no longer inevitable, says Vikas Shah. Here he shares his Technifesto for the United Kingdom. Information is now who we are – technology is our primary economic, social and cultural tool It’s an absolute priority to […]

Brexit and science: all risk and no benefit

By Martin Yuille Filed Under: All posts, Brexit, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: February 9, 2017

With new trade deals being negotiated following the Brexit vote, there are other areas of policy which should not be overlooked. Martin Yuille, Reader in Biobanking/Co-Director of CIGMR at The University of Manchester, argues that science and technology is increasingly a pre-condition for world-class research and therefore, now, after the EU referendum, the UK cannot […]

Do three-parent babies suggest a future for genetically modified designer children?

By Iain Brassington Filed Under: Health and Social Care, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: December 16, 2016

Yesterday, the UK’s fertility regulator approved a new technique of mitochondrial transfer, which allows babies to be made from two women and one man in order to prevent children being born with serious genetic diseases. Dr Iain Brassington considers some of the potential legal, ethical and practical implications of the decision. There is a specific legal exemption […]

We must allow nuclear power to play its part in tackling climate change

By Melissa Denecke Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: November 28, 2016

This month, the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) took place in Marrakech, Morocco. Here, Prof Melissa Denecke reflects on the letter that Women in Nuclear Global wrote on the occasion of COP21 last year and argues that investing in Nuclear Energy is vital to tackling climate change. Decision-makers across the […]

Chernobyl anniversary: dealing with the fallout

By Francis Livens Filed Under: All posts, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: April 26, 2016

Today marks the 30-year anniversary of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. There are important lessons for governments to learn from the nuclear incidents of the past. The implications of their actions have significant and far-reaching consequences, says Francis Livens, as he reflects on his own experiences of the events during spring 1986. I find it […]

Plugging the energy gap: keeping our reactors running, to keep the lights on

By Barry Marsden Filed Under: Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: March 3, 2016

Demand for power continues to increase, and without enabling sufficient access to it, we run into serious economic, social and health problems, argues Prof Barry Marsden. EDF Energy has recently announced the plant life extension of four of their Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors – in Hartlepool, Heysham and Torness. Extending the operating lifetime of these reactors […]